Equities opened higher on Friday, but faded throughout the afternoon, with the S&P 500 finishing about flat on the day. After a very strong start to September, here's a look at a few top stock trades going into next week. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow 1: FordShares of Ford (NYSE:F) haven't made much progress this week, but it's been a good showing from the bulls. Earlier this week, the company had its credit downgraded to junk status, but Ford stock posted a resilient rally.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsOn Friday, the stock briefly reclaimed the 50-day moving average, the same one which rejected F earlier in the week. A move above it puts $9.65 on watch and above that, a potential gap fill up to $10.20. * 7 Discount Retail Stocks to Buy for a Recession On the downside, see that Ford maintains above $9.40-ish. Just below is the 38.2% and rising 20-day moving average to help buoy shares on a possible pullback. Below this week's low opens up the possibility of $8.75. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow 2: General MotorsShares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) have had a quiet week, but that comes after last week's strong gap up action. Consolidating between $38.50 and $39.50, GM stock is bound to move out of this range at some point.Should it resolve higher, the first target is $40.50. Above that and a run to the July highs is possible, up near $41.48. If it trades lower and falls out of this consolidation pattern, look for support from the 50-day and 20-day moving averages.If they fail as support, it puts the 200-day moving average on watch, with range support at $35.50 below that. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow 3: MonsterMonster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) has a really interesting setup for traders. Uptrend support (blue line) continues to squeeze shares against static resistance at $59. That's known as an ascending triangle, a bullish technical pattern.At $59.27, the stock also has the 38.2% retracement it's trying to reclaim. Should it finally breakout, look for a possible run to the 50-day moving average. Above that and $63 is possible.If the 200-day and $59 resistance reject MNST stock, look for a pullback into uptrend support. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow 4: TwilioAfter the thrashing we've seen in high growth stocks, many were hoping for a more impressive rebound. This bounce has been tepid, and that's putting it kindly. Just look at the action in Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) for instance.Short of a flood of buy orders, Twilio and others look set to roll over once again. Should TWLO get hit, I would love to see a correction down to the $96 to $98 area, and see whether that draws in buyers. * 10 Recession-Resistant Services Stocks to Buy High-growth selloffs are tough. If there are a few companies you really like and are willing to hold for the long term -- and embrace the risk -- nibbling on these declines can be rewarding. But they're difficult to time. In TWLO's case, let's take it one day at a time and see how it holds up on a potentially deeper decline.Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Big IPO Stocks From 2019 to Watch * 7 Discount Retail Stocks to Buy for a Recession * 7 Stocks to Buy Benefiting From Millennial Money The post 4 Top Stock Trades for Monday: F, GM, TWLO, MNST appeared first on InvestorPlace.

As investors get more nervous about the U.S. trade war with China, defensive plays such as Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) have become more popular. Up 27% (including dividends) over the past year through August 30, KO stock continues to generate significant attention from investors.Source: Fotazdymak / Shutterstock.com Before you buy Coca-Cola stock and throw it in a drawer, you might also want to consider investing in the entire Coca-Cola portfolio. Here's why. The Sum of the PartsCoca-Cola's equity method investments generated $75.5 billion in revenue in 2018, along with $7.5 billion in operating income. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsCoca-Cola's major equity method investments include 19% of Coca-Cola European Partners (NYSE:CCEP), 19% of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST), 20% of AC Bebidas, Arca Continental's (OTCMKTS:EMBVF) beverage business, 28% of Coca-Cola Femsa (NYSE:KOF), 23% of Coca-Cola HBC (OTCMKTS:CCHGY), and 18% of Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan (OTCMKTS:CCOJY). Coca-Cola currently trades at 7.1 times sales. Assuming its equity method investments were one entity and also sold at 7.1 times sales, they would have a market cap of $536 billion, or more than double Coca-Cola's entire valuation. Not mentioned in the six equity method investments from above is Coca-Cola Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE), the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the U.S. Coca-Cola owns 35% of its stock. Here's the market cap valuation of all seven equity method investments (Source: Morningstar and Wall Street Journal):Company Market Cap Coca-Cola's Interest Coca-Cola European Partners $26.0B $5.0B Monster Beverage $31.6B $6.1B AC Bebidas N/A N/A Coca-Cola Femsa $12.3B $3.4B Coca-Cola HBC $11.0B $2.5B Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan $3.9B $702.0M Coca-Cola Consolidated $3.2B $1.1B The only holding that I wasn't able to come up with an approximate valuation is AC Bebidas. That's because it's an 80% -owned subsidiary of Arca Continental, which has other interests in addition to its beverage business. * 7 Deeply Discounted Energy Stocks to Buy That said, the company's beverage business accounted for 89% of its 2018 revenue. So, let's assume its valuation is 89% of its $9.2 billion market cap, which means Coke's 20% interest is worth approximately $1.6 billion. In total, the seven equity method investments are worth approximately $20.4 billion, $1 billion higher than the carrying value of $19.4 billion, which doesn't include minority investments in BodyArmor and its other growth ventures. KO Stock Performance vs. Equity InvestmentsAs I said in the beginning, Coca-Cola stock has generated a total return of 27% over the past year, 193 basis points better than the U.S. total market. How have the other stocks performed?(Source: Morningstar 1-Year returns)Company 1-Year Total Return Coca-Cola European Partners 34.5% Monster Beverage -3.7% AC Bebidas -17.4%* Coca-Cola Femsa 0.6% Coca-Cola HBC 5.5% Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan -26.9% Coca-Cola Consolidated 99.1% You'll notice an asterisk beside AC Bebidas's total return. That's because I used its parent, Arca Continental's one-year return, and that's based on its performance on the Pink Sheets. Its performance on the Mexico Bolsa was -17.6%, so it's reasonably accurate. The performance of the seven stocks was either good -- COKE up 99.1% -- or bad -- CCOJY was down 26.9%. Overall, based on a $1,000 investment for all seven stocks, they generated a total return of 13.1%, about half Coca-Cola's total return over the past year. The Bottom Line on KO StockWhile some of the seven Coca-Cola equity investments have done poorly over the past year -- Monster would be at the top of the list of disappointments -- I wouldn't bet against some of them rebounding over the next 6-12 months. * 10 Stocks to Buy for September That being said, it's a heck of a lot easier to make a single investment in KO stock, stick it in a drawer, and enjoy a steady stream of dividends and capital appreciation over the next 3-5 years or longer. At the time of this writing Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Deeply Discounted Energy Stocks to Buy * 7 Stocks to Buy In a Flat Market * 10 Stocks to Buy to Ride China's Emerging Wealth The post Is It Time to Invest in the Coca-Cola Portfolio?Â Â Â Â appeared first on InvestorPlace.

[Editor's note: This story was previously published in April 2018. It has since been updated and republished.]First, let's get something straight. The definition of penny stocks is entirely subjective. What I think constitutes a risky penny stock, you might feel is a robust, thriving enterprise. Therefore, before I answer the question of whether you can make money in penny stocks, I'm going to explain what I believe is the best definition of a penny stock. From there, I'll tackle the five rules investors should follow to be successful in trading penny stocks.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsThe Definition: Merriam-Webster defines penny stock as "a usually unlisted highly speculative stock usually selling for a dollar or less." Hence, the penny-stock moniker. Others are more liberal in their interpretation of what constitutes a penny stock.The Successful Investor, an investment newsletter publisher I do some work for here in Canada, suggests the ceiling price can go as high as $5. * 7 Retail Stocks to Buy on the Dip Here's what the SEC has to say about penny stocks:"The term 'penny stock' generally refers to a security issued by a very small company that trades at less than $5 per share," states the SEC website. "Penny stocks generally are quoted over-the-counter, such as on the OTC Bulletin Board; penny stocks may, however, also trade on securities exchanges, including foreign securities exchanges."So, I've got reputable sources from both the U.S. and Canada who accurately define what penny stocks are, including the price at which they trade.At $5 or less, I do believe you can make money in stocks, but it helps if you follow these five simple rules.For every success story like Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST), which traded below $5 as recently as 2006, there are hundreds of penny stock failures littered along the investment highway. * The Elite 8 Stocks to Buy for Massive Outperformance Treat penny stocks just as you would any other publicly traded investment, and your chances for success increase exponentially. Tip 1: Buy Companies With Strong Balance SheetsSource: Shutterstock Like any equity investment, it's important that you establish the financial strength of the company. When I look for stocks to invest in whether the share price is $5 or $500, I focus on companies with strong balance sheets. Although no debt is desirable when interest rates are rising, it's not very practical. This is especially true when it comes to penny stocks, many of which are still in the early stages of development. Here are two rules:1\. Only invest in companies whose long-term debt (LTD) is 50% of shareholder equity or less. If a company has $1 million in debt, its shareholder equity should be at least $2 million. 2\. Try to keep your penny-stock bets to those companies whose LTD is less than its market cap; the lower, the better. Tip 2: Buy Profitable CompaniesSource: (C)iStock.com/graphicnoi As with any equity investment, it's important that you limit your investments to profitable businesses. There are two schools of thought on this. On the one hand, investing in publicly-traded companies, whether they're penny stocks or not, provides you with greater liquidity than private investments. Therefore, the ability to exit quicker justifies the higher risk many in this arena are willing to accept to generate outsize future gains. On the other hand, private investments have longer holding periods built into them -- often 3-5 years or more -- which means investors aren't nearly as concerned about profitability as they are with growth. * 10 Marijuana Stocks That Could See 100% Gains, If Not More It really comes down to your ability to handle uncertainty. For me, I'm always looking for companies making money in the here and now. Anything less is called speculation, and while there's nothing wrong with this approach, it's not something novice investors ought to consider. Tip 3: Understand the BusinessSource: Shutterstock Like any equity investment, it's important that you understand the businesses you invest in. There's a saying that if you can't explain what a company's business does in a sentence or two, you probably shouldn't be investing.Imagine you're explaining the investment to your child who attends elementary school. It's easy to describe what Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) does: it makes soda pop. It's not nearly as simple to describe what business Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) is in.At least it's not for me. Stick to what you know and understand. That's especially true with penny stocks with smaller market caps. Tip 4: Diversify Source: Simon Cunningham via FlickrLike any equity investment, it's important that you diversify your penny stocks. How many penny stocks should you own? That's the million-dollar question, no matter how big or small the investment. Some professional investors believe you've got to have a concentrated portfolio of your best ideas -- say 10 to 20 -- while others think you should spread your bets far wider over 100 stocks or more. It's a subjective answer for sure. * 10 Undervalued Stocks With Breakout Potential What I do know is that you want to be in at least three or four sectors of the economy that generally are healthy and growing.Since the risk/reward ratio of penny stocks can be significantly higher than that of large-cap stocks such as Coca-Cola, it's far more important to diversify your investments. Tip 5: Risk What You Can Afford to LoseSource: Shutterstock Like any equity investment, it's important that you understand there are no guarantees and that you're risking the money you can afford to lose.If your child's going off to university in a couple of years and the funds you've allocated for investing will pay his or her tuition, you might want to keep your funds parked in something more stable.As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 10 Tech Stocks That Transformed Their Business * 8 Genomic Testing Stocks That Can Ease the Sting of Theranos * 7 Weak Blue-Chip Stocks to Trim Immediately The post 5 Tips for Making Money in Penny Stocks appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Monster Beverage's second-quarter report on Aug. 7 showed its buy-one-get-one free (BOGO) promotion for Reign products didn't live up to expectations, King wrote in a note. The company also said it will no longer offer a full-year outlook for the Reign brand and may imply poor retail acceptance in the highly competitive energy drink market.

John Reese selects stocks based on the strategies of some of the stock market's most legendary long-term investors. Monster Beverage (MNST) is a buy in the model portfolio of his Validea newsletter based on the contrarian investing strategy of the legendary investor David Dreman.

Weston-based energy drink brand Bang Energy filed a lawsuit against Monster Energy, alleging that Monster used a network of influencers to disparage Bang Energy's reputation. The lawsuit by Vital Pharmaceuticals (VPX), Bang Energy's parent company, against Corona, California-based Monster Beverage Corp. (Nasdaq: MNST) and also accuses Monster of roping in a dozen internet personalities in what it called a "smear campaign," according to court documents. Some of the bloggers and YouTubers cited in the lawsuit have since removed their bad reviews of Bang Energy, including Summer Shores, who has been running the blog "Being Summer Shores" from Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the past three years.

The rebound that was nowhere to be found on Wednesday made up for lost time on Thursday. With the S&P 500's 1.88% advance, the index is back above the key 50-day moving average line. Missing was an overwhelming level of volume, and any other convincing proof the move can persist.Source: Shutterstock Leading the charge were Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU). Shares of the chip maker were up nearly 16% following the unveiling of a new data center server chip that Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) have both already incorporated into their development plans. Roku jumped 20% in response to yesterday's earnings release, which showed revenue well ahead of expectations. User growth was tremendous too, now standing at 30.5 million regular viewers.Not all names were up in yesterday's big advance. Fox (NASDAQ:FOXA, NASDAQ:FOX) fell more than 5% after starting the day higher in response to last quarter's numbers. Traders quickly decided they weren't thrilled about the decision to acquire a couple of outfits that don't necessarily fit with the company's current model.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 10 Internet Stocks Getting Hammered As for names that are worth exploring as trading prospects headed into Friday's session, however, it's the stock charts of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST), General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Kimco Realty (NYSE:KIM) that are most worth exploring. Monster Beverage (MNST)The knee-jerk reaction to the quarterly report Monster Beverage posted after Wednesday's close was bearish. Sales as well as earnings missed analyst estimates, and MNST stock started to dish out another major setback that investors have grown accustomed to of late.As investors had time to digest the numbers though, with a little technical help, Monster Beverage was able to reverse course in a big way and end the session pretty deep in the black. The sheer scope and context of the one-day move speaks volumes about what lies ahead. * Click to EnlargeThursday was a huge "outside day," where the open and close completely engulf the previous bar's high-to-low range. That turnaround and the volume behind it suggest a lot of bulls were, and perhaps are, waiting in the wings. * Backing out to the weekly chart gives us some idea of how and why the stock stopped falling and started rallying where it did. All it took was a kiss of one of the support levels that extend back to 2017. * Even without that support line kicking in though, the intraday cross back above the white 200-day moving average line and the gray 100-day moving average line are solid buy signals in and of themselves. General Motors (GM)In mid-July, General Motors was highlighted after it staged another attack on a falling resistance line. Although not yet over it at the time, a string of higher lows leading up to that test was telling. The bigger trend was also bullish, for those investors able to stomach the volatility GM stock has been dishing out for years.GM shares did end up punching through both levels of closely aligned resistance, only to peak and then crash again the very first day of this month. This week though, GM stock is back above that technical ceiling. This second effort may well be the one that sticks. * 7 Stocks to Buy to Ride the Vegan Wave * Click to EnlargeAlthough plotted on the daily chart, it's the weekly chart that better illustrates how General Motors shares have been guided downward by a falling ceiling that's made for lower highs. * It ended up meaning nothing in February, but as of yesterday, the purple 50-day average is above the gray 100-day line, which is above the white 200-day moving average. All three are sloped higher now as well. * Although the undertow is bullish, the volume behind the past couple of day's bullishness has been alarmingly tepid. Kimco Realty (KIM)Between the middle of 2016 and the middle of 2018, Kimco Realty shares were beaten down, rather severely, in anticipation of trouble that never really took shape.The stock has since started a recovery effort that has actually been quite impressive, with KIM stock bumping into new 52-week highs earlier this month and mostly shrugging off the marketwide weakness other stocks have seen of late. It's the shape of this move since early this year, in fact, that's so interesting. It's either going to be very good, or very bad. * Click to EnlargeIt's more evident on the weekly chart than the daily chart, but Kimco has been getting squeezed into a converging wedge pattern since early last year, framed by purple and white dashed lines on both stock charts. * Although the trend within that rising wedge pattern is bullish, such a rise can often be a setup for a surprisingly large wave of profit-taking. * Even so, most of the clues evident thus far point to an eventual bullish break above the wedge's upper boundary, currently near $19.50. Chief among them is this week's push up and off of the purple 50-day moving average.As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can learn more about James at his site, jamesbrumley.com, or follow him on Twitter, at @jbrumley. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 8 Dividend Aristocrat Stocks to Buy Now No Matter What * 7 Stocks to Buy to Ride the Vegan Wave * 4 Safe Stocks to Buy Amid Trade War Turbulence The post 3 Big Stock Charts for Friday: Kimco Realty, GM and Monster Beverage appeared first on InvestorPlace.

—after the company reported quarterly sales that fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts. Because the company makes packaged, processed foods, it needs to show it can keep up with changing tastes of consumers, who want healthier foods these days. (KHC) (KHC) has more problems than that.

Shares of Monster Beverage were down more than 5% Thursday following second-quarter earnings and revenue that missed analysts' estimates. Analysts were expecting the beverage maker to report earnings of 56 cents per share on revenue of $1.13 billion. "We are pleased to report record gross and net sales in the 2019 second quarter, driven by our Reign Total Body Fuel™ high performance energy drinks, which we launched in the first quarter, as well as growth in our Monster Energy brand energy drinks both domestically and internationally," said CEO Rodney Sacks.